Local teen runs fishing tournament to help cancer patients in honor of her Nana

Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 12:32 PM.

Raegan Kellum stopped a moment to wipe a tear from her cheek with fingernails painted in patriotic stars and stripes.

The 16-year-old was overcome while talking about Faye Thomas — the woman she has come to know as Nana and who has been babysitting her since she was 2 years old, and who was diagnosed seven months ago with breast cancer.

Raegan is an incoming senior at White Oak High School, and for her graduation project, she is organizing a fishing tournament on July 26 at Marina Cafe in Jacksonville to raise money for the nonprofit organization Southeastern Cancer Care, under the auspices of Southeastern Medical Oncology Center.

Raegan first learned of her Nana’s diagnosis of stage four breast cancer when she was away with the WOHS varsity cheerleading team at the Gator Bowl over New Year’s. Her mother called her and broke the news.

“She just started crying,” Raegan said, recalling the moment her mother told her about Nana’s diagnosis.

On her way home, Raegan said she learned about SCC from someone who works for Southeastern Medical Oncology Center. That’s when she decided to put a project together to benefit the organization.

Raegan Kellum stopped a moment to wipe a tear from her cheek with fingernails painted in patriotic stars and stripes.

The 16-year-old was overcome while talking about Faye Thomas — the woman she has come to know as Nana and who has been babysitting her since she was 2 years old, and who was diagnosed seven months ago with breast cancer.

Raegan is an incoming senior at White Oak High School, and for her graduation project, she is organizing a fishing tournament on July 26 at Marina Cafe in Jacksonville to raise money for the nonprofit organization Southeastern Cancer Care, under the auspices of Southeastern Medical Oncology Center.

Raegan first learned of her Nana’s diagnosis of stage four breast cancer when she was away with the WOHS varsity cheerleading team at the Gator Bowl over New Year’s. Her mother called her and broke the news.

“She just started crying,” Raegan said, recalling the moment her mother told her about Nana’s diagnosis.

On her way home, Raegan said she learned about SCC from someone who works for Southeastern Medical Oncology Center. That’s when she decided to put a project together to benefit the organization.

All the money raised at the fishing tournament will go to the nonprofit, which according to Southeastern Medical Oncology Center Patient Navigator Ashley Bryan, will use all the money raised to help patients in local counties. Patients who receive help from SCC can receive financial aid up to $750 per year to help with gas, food, prescription medications, utilities and more.

“It’s meant to ease their financial burdens,” Bryan said, adding that the patients don’t receive the money directly, but the organization will direct the funds in the ways in which they need them most.

Bryan said she was surprised when she first heard about Raegan’s project.

“I think it says a lot for somebody who is 16,” she said. “It’s a big responsibility. She’s an awesome person for it.”

And Raegan admitted the workload is more than she thought she would have to take on. But she doesn’t mind.

“It’s for a good cause, so I don’t regret it,” she said.

Though the tournament is in honor of Thomas, she is not currently a beneficiary of SCC. However, Raegan said many are battling cancer, making the organization’s mission worthwhile for her.

“So many people that I have known have passed away recently from cancer that I felt it would be a great organization to give to,” Raegan said. “In the past year alone Roland Humphrey, Lloyd Harris, Walter Vatcher, Kay Glover, just to name a few that have lost their battle to cancer.”

Thomas is still ill — Raegan said her cancer has now spread to her bones — and rather than being at Vidant Hospital in Greenville, Thomas is living at home and being treated at Southeastern Medical Oncology Center in Jacksonville.

Thomas said she has trouble explaining how she felt when she learned Raegan was organizing the fishing tournament in honor of her.

“It’s just wonderful,” she said. “My heart just felt like it was going to burst. It just made me feel so special.”

Thomas remembers the first moment she laid eyes on Raegan when she was only “a little tiny girl,” and recalls how much she wanted to hold her. She now calls Raegan, along with her brother Stephen and sister Mallory, her grandchildren, laughing at all the adventures they went on together over the years including flipping on monkey bars, jumping on trampolines and bicycling together.

“She means everything to me,” Thomas said of Raegan, commenting on how responsible and kind Raegan has grown up to become. When Thomas first went to the hospital, she said Raegan and her brother and mother washed her hair for her. “It felt so good to get my hair washed. Of course, all of it’s come out now.”

Kellum said Thomas has been a constant support system since she was a little girl, and now she wants to give back.

“My Nana has always been there for me through some of the hardest times in my life, one being the divorce of my parents,” she said. “I was 5 and it was hard but Nana was always there to watch us at Mom’s or Dad’s. She has been there for me through everything and now it’s my time to be there for her.”

And though Thomas’ cancer has spread, Thomas said she feels “good” overall. “I feel better when I get to see Mallory, Raegan and Stephen.”

She confesses that the three of them kept her young and they always had fun together.

And she has goal: “My dream now is to watch her graduate,” Thomas said. “I’m going to be on the front row. I’m just so proud of her. She’s brought me so much happiness.”

The tournament takes place on July 26 and it’s called an inshore slam, meaning three kinds of fish will be weighed: trout, flounder, drum.

In order for a team or participant to be eligible for the $1,000 guaranteed grand prize, they must bring one of each of the three fish in for weigh-in at the Marina Cafe at 3:30 p.m. Registration is $100 per team and teams are not limited to a set number of people.

Participants can also do side entries in each of the three categories of trout, flounder and drum for a $25 entry fee.

Participants can fish wherever they want, according to Raegan, even if that means they want to catch their fish in Sneads Ferry and come back up for weigh-in at 3:30 p.m.

Why the lax rules?

“We’re just trying to raise money for cancer,” she said.

At 6:45 p.m. on July 25 will be a captain’s meeting at the Marina Cafe, where Raegan said participants can register if they have not already done so through the mail. Rules will be read at captains meeting and the time they can start fishing the next day will be determined.

Following the weigh-in, hot dogs and drinks will be served and the winners will be announced. Raegan said prizes will be awarded for first, second and third in the aggregate category and in amounts to be determined in the side entry categories.

They will also raffle off some items, including a live palm tree from her father’s business, Little Jim’s Landscaping, artwork, and gift cards from local businesses.

Raegan said the project has been a growing experience for her: not only has she learned how to do some things such as depositing checks, she said she has stretched herself as a person.

“I don’t like asking people for money. I’m really shy,” she said. However, she has been approaching businesses asking for sponsorships for the tournament, teaching herself how to conquer that fear. “I’ve grown. ... I’ve overcome that.”

She also said the project was born out of the idea that she wanted to do something unique.

“I wanted to do something different. I like to fish,” she said, though she is thinking about pursuing a career in dental hygiene or hair dressing.

She has fished her whole life, ever since her father taught her, and there is even a pond at her home where she engages in the sport. She also spent a lot of time growing up on boats.

“I want to thank my mentors, Daniel Sbrocco and Ricky Kellum,” she said, who both fish in tournaments and have helped her with the dynamics of planning.

Raegan asks anyone who knows someone who has been diagnosed with or who has passed away from cancer to get involved in the tournament.

“I feel like we need to support the people of Jacksonville…I couldn’t imagine someone not being able to work and support their family while going through such a traumatic experience,” she said.

Want to participate?

The tournament takes place July 26, and weigh-in is at 3:30 p.m at the Marina Cafe.

Registration costs $100 per team for the inshore slam, $25 for side entries.

Register for the Reeling to Heal Inshore Slam by mailing in your registration to:

Reeling to Heal Inshore Slam

160 Elwood Road

Jacksonville, NC 28546

Or register at the captain’s meeting at 6:45 p.m. July 25 at the Marina Cafe. Rules and safe light will be determined at the meeting.